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Dumbo (2019 film)
| screenplay = Ehren Kruger | based on = | }} | starring = | music = Danny Elfman | cinematography = Ben Davis | editing = Chris Lebenzon | studio = | distributor = Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | released = | runtime = 112 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $170 million | gross = $119.5 million }} Dumbo is a 2019 American fantasy film directed by Tim Burton, with a screenplay written by Ehren Kruger. The film is inspired by Walt Disney's 1941 animated film of the same name, based on the novel by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl. The film stars Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, and Alan Arkin, and follows a family that works at a failing traveling circus as they encounter a baby elephant with extremely large ears who is capable of flying. Plans for a live-action film adaption of Dumbo were announced in 2014 and Burton was confirmed as director in March 2015. Much of the cast signed on in March 2017 and principal photography began in July of that year in England, lasting until November. It is the first of four remakes that Disney is planning to release in 2019, along with Aladdin, The Lion King, and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The film premiered in Los Angeles on March 11, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 29, 2019. The film has grossed $119 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances of the cast and Burton's signature style but criticized the screenplay and "lack of heart" compared to the original. Plot In 1919, equestrian performer and World War I amputee, Holt Farrier returns after the war to the Medici Brothers' Circus, run by Max Medici. The circus has run into financial troubles and Medici has been forced to sell the circus's horses after Holt's wife and co-performer, Annie passed away, so Medici reassigns Holt as the caretaker for the circus's pregnant elephant, Mrs. Jumbo. Mrs. Jumbo gives birth to a calf with unusually large ears and Medici orders Holt to hide the ears before allowing the public to see the calf. However, the calf accidentally reveals his ears in his debut performance and the crowd mockingly names the calf Dumbo while pelting him with peanuts and other objects. Mrs. Jumbo is distressed by her son's mistreatment and rampages into the ring, causing extensive damage and accidentally killing an abusive handler. Afterwards, to prevent a public relations problem, Medici results to selling Mrs. Jumbo. Holt's son and daughter, Milly and Joe Farrier, comfort Dumbo and realize he can fly by flapping his ears. The children also discover that feathers are the key to Dumbo's willingness to fly. In another performance, Dumbo plays the role of a firefighter clown to put out a fire with water sprayed from his trunk, but the performance goes wrong and Dumbo is trapped on a high platform surrounded by flames. Milly risks her life to deliver a feather to Dumbo, giving him the confidence to fly. The audience is astounded when Dumbo flying and word of his talent begins to spread. V. A. Vandevere, the owner of Dreamland, a bohemian amusement park, approaches Medici and proposes a collaboration; Medici would become Vandevere's partner and the Medici Brothers' Circus's troupe would be employed to perform at Dreamland. Later, Vandevere demands that Dumbo should fly with French trapeze artist, Colette Marchant. Colette and Dumbo’s debut performance at Dreamland goes wrong with Dumbo nearly falling off a high platform leading to him trumpeting in alarm since no net has been added to avoid possible injuries and fatalities. Dumbo hears his mother's call in response and realizes that his mother is an exhibit elsewhere in Dreamland. Dumbo flies out of the circus ring, reuniting with his mother. Fearing that Dumbo's mother may become a distraction to him, Vandevere orders Mrs. Jumbo to be taken away and killed. Vandevere also fires all of the Medici performers from Dreamland. When Holt and the rest of the Medici troupe learn Vandevere intends to kill Dumbo's mother, they resolve to set both her and Dumbo free. The circus performers utilize their various talents to break Mrs. Jumbo out of her enclosure while Holt and Colette guide Dumbo to fly out of the circus. Vandevere attempts to stop them, but accidentally starts a fire triggered by mismanagement of Dreamland's electricity system which spreads and destroys the park. After Dumbo saves Holt and his family from the fire, Holt, Colette, the children, and the troupe bring Dumbo and his mother to the harbor, where they board a ship back to their native home. Afterwards, the renamed Medici circus is re-established, while Vandevere is tried for arson, and flourishes with Colette as the newest troupe member. Meanwhile, Dumbo and his mother reunite with a herd of wild elephants in the jungle. Cast * Colin Farrell as Holt Farrier, an amputated World War I veteran, former circus equestrian performer from Kentucky, and the widowed father of Milly and Joe who lost his left arm in the war and is hired by Medici to care for the newborn elephant. * Michael Keaton as V. A. Vandevere, a ruthless and enigmatic entrepreneur, and amusement park owner who buys Medici's circus to exploit the titular elephant for his bohemian amusement park, Dreamland. * Danny DeVito as Max Medici, a boisterous ringmaster and owner of the Medici Brothers' Circus who is loosely based off the ringmaster from the previous film. * Eva Green as Colette Marchant, a French trapeze artist and Vandevere's muse who performs at Dreamland. * Alan Arkin as J. Griffin Remington, a Banker. *Nico Parker as Milly Farrier, Holt's curious science-minded daughter. * Finley Hobbins as Joe Farrier, Holt's enthusiastic son. * Roshan Seth as Pramesh Singh, an Indian snake charmer. * DeObia Oparei as Rongo the Strongo, a strongman. * Joseph Gatt as Neils Skellig, Vandevere's right-hand man. * Sharon Rooney as Miss Atlantis * Michael Buffer as Baritone Bates, a Dreamland ringmaster. * Frank Bourke as Puck * Edd Osmond as "Dumbo" Performer * Jo Osmond as Circus Cook * Lucy DeVito as Coat-check Girl Production Development and writing Early development for a live-action adaptation of Dumbo began in 2014, when Ehren Kruger gave to Derek Frey a script for the film, which a touched Frey green-lighted for development. On July 8, 2014, it was announced that a was in development for Walt Disney Pictures. Kruger was confirmed as the screenwriter, and Justin Springer will serve as the producer along with Kruger. On March 10, 2015, Tim Burton was announced as the director. On July 15, 2017, Disney announced Dumbo would be released on March 29, 2019. The film features a different storyline from the original film's, though as star Colin Farrell described, "the one central thing that holds true in both the original animation, the original cartoon" is the film's the message of "believing in yourself and finding something inside you that allows you to become the best version of what you thought you could even be, and that we're all, regardless of the things that sometimes society says, should arrive us at being outcasts; they're the things that make us all individual, special, and beautiful regardless of how crippling a certain thing may be or how polarizing a certain physical attribute even may be." The film does not feature talking animals, focusing instead on the human characters. Kruger wrote the script as a story that "offered a way to tell that story in a framework that expanded it, but without redoing the original film", as well as a story that "was simple, with an emotional simplicity, and didn't interfere with what the basic through line of the original is about." Like the original film, Dumbo depicts the character as a symbol of someone who does not fit and turns his disabilities into an advantage. Kruger wrote the script in order to "explore how the people of the circus world would relate to Dumbo's journey", while Springer said that "production team really wanted to explore the human side of Dumbo's story and give it historical context. In the animated feature, Dumbo flies for the world at the end of the film. They wanted to find out how the world reacts when people learn that this elephant can fly". Casting In January 2017, it was announced that Will Smith was "in talks" to play the father of the children who develop a friendship with the lovable elephant after seeing him at the circus. However, Smith later passed on the role due to scheduling conflicts in his filming for Bad Boys for Life, among other reasons. Smith went on to be cast as the Genie in Disney's [[Aladdin (2019 film)|live-action remake of Aladdin]]. Bill Hader, Chris Pine and Casey Affleck were also offered the role, but passed on it before Colin Farrell was cast. Farrell, a fan of Burton, chose to work on the film because "the idea of in something as sweet and fantastical and otherworldly, while being grounded in some recognizable world that we can relate to, under the direction of Burton, was something he always wanted to do." In March 2017, Eva Green and Danny DeVito, recurring collaborators of Burton's, joined the cast as Colette, a trapeze artist, and Max Medici, the circus' ringmaster, respectively. Due to her fear of heights, Green trained with aerialist Katherine Arnold and choreographer Fran Jaynes in order to prepare for the role. In April 2017, Michael Keaton joined the cast, rounding out the few prominent "adult" live-action roles. Tom Hanks was reportedly in discussions for the role before Keaton was cast. During the summer of 2017, DeObia Oparei, Joseph Gatt, and Alan Arkin joined the film. DeVito said that "loves Tim and he would do anything to be in a movie with him." DeVito said that Burton is "always spirited, always an artist, always thinking about the craft, always painting with his mind" and that he felt like "part of some kind of palette, a color scheme" while filming the movie. Filming Principal photography had begun by July 2017, in England. Two elephant props were used during filming "to give production team an idea of his size and his shape in the scene; an idea of the lighting, and that kind of thing; where he's going to be for camera." Creature performer Edd Osmond used a green suit to represent the character while filming certain scenes, as well as an "interactive reference" for scenes that required the actors to be in contact with the character, and as a guide for Burton to use, with Burton later providing information of his performance to the animation team. Unlike most remakes of Disney's animated films, Dumbo mostly used practical sets during filming. Most of the filming was done at Pinewood Studios and Cardington Airfield in England. Production designer Rick Heinrichs designed the film's scenes in a way that represents both the film's story and the period it is set, stating that the film's story "provided a very specific period, but at the same time, having worked with Tim many times in the past, knows that is a little less interested in giving a history lesson as he is in the emotional story being told." Both the "Dreamland" and circus scenes were designed differently in order to showcase their contrasts. The production design crew were heavily influenced by the works of Edward Hopper, with Heinrichs stating that the team tried to create something similar to "Hopper's reductive process of looking at environments and reducing it to its essence." Heinrichs also said that the production design team had "to push the reality—the live action—a bit into the storybook world. They certainly make the baby elephant look believable, but they also stylized our world, pushing it into an expressive direction with all of the lighting, costumes, props and environments." Burton filmed the remake in sound stages, stating that "for this kind of movie, shooting all indoors obviously helps with weather concerns and all those things. It's one movie where are not sitting around, talking about the weather all day long." The production team also created a full-scale version of the train "Casey Jr." from the original film, though it was visually redesigned in order to reflect the circus' state. According to visual effects supervisor Richard Stammers, a motion base, which he described as "essentially a hydraulic round gimbal rig" was used for scenes in which Green's character flies with Dumbo, with hydraulic pistons used to simulate Dumbo's flying. Post-production The visual effects were provided by Moving Picture Company, Framestore and Rise FX, supervised by Patrick Ledda, Richard Hoover, Jonathan Weber, Richard Stammers and produced by Hal Couzens with the help of Rising Sun Pictures and Rodeo FX. Title designer Matt Curtis made the opening titles for Dumbo, marking his first collaboration with Disney since Around the World in 80 Days. Music On October 4, 2017, Danny Elfman was revealed to be composing the film's score. Elfman said that "and the production team knew they would have to find a musical identity for Dumbo that was purely Dumbo." Elfman developed the film's main theme as "a very simple theme" as Burton "feels it's a simple story." Elfman also wrote background music for the film's scenes in the circus, as well as themes based on the characters' experiences. He also wrote a theme for Medici and Vandevere which he described as "a bit of a wicked thing." The score plays homage to Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace's score from the original film. Norwegian singer Aurora performed a cover of the original film's song "Baby Mine" for the remake's trailer, though it was not featured in the actual film. Sharon Rooney performed the song in the film. Additionally, Arcade Fire performs an end-credits version of "Baby Mine" for the film, which was released as a single on March 11, 2019. Instrumental versions of the songs "Casey Junior", "When I See an Elephant Fly", and "Pink Elephants on Parade" from the original film are also featured in the film. The soundtrack, featuring Elfman's score and Arcade Fire's version of "Baby Mine", was digitally released on March 29, 2019, and will be physically released on April 5, 2019. Track listing Release Dumbo was released in the United States in 2D and RealD 3D by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 29, 2019. It held its world premiere at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on March 11, 2019. The European premier was held at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema in London on March 21, 2019. It will be released in RealD 3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D and Dolby Cinema. Dumbo will be released to stream exclusively in Disney's upcoming streaming service, Disney+, in late 2019. Reception Box office , Dumbo has grossed $46 million in the United States and Canada, and $73.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $119.5 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Beach Bum and Unplanned, and was projected to gross $50–65 million from 4,259 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $15.3 million on its first day, including $2.6 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $46 million. The film topped the box office but was considered a disappointing start given the $170 million budget and Disney brand, with Deadline Hollywood putting the blame on the original film being 78 years old and the middling critical response versus poor marketing. In other territories, Dumbo was projected to make $80–90 million from 53 countries in its opening weekend, for a global debut of $137–155 million. Much like its domestic total, the film underperformed, grossing just $71 million for a worldwide total of $116 million. Its largest markets were China ($10.7 million), Mexico ($7.2 million) and Japan ($2.4 million). Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 49% based on 263 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Dumbo is held partly aloft by Tim Burton's visual flair, but a crowded canvas and overstretched story leave this live-action remake more workmanlike than wondrous." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 51 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, and those at PostTrak gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Writing for The A.V. Club, Katie Rife gave the film a "B-" and wrote "...characters are just there to keep the story moving, to provide awestruck reaction shots as we move from oddly muted spectacle to agreeable callback to the heartwarming happy ending. And yes, these are all symptoms of the same relentless conformist drumbeat the film is critiquing in its script. But what's more Disney than Disney controlling the ways in which a filmmaker can critique Disney?" David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The hopes of diehard Burton fans might have been stoked by the recruitment of Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito, totems of the director's more consistent days. But this is another frustratingly uneven picture, with thin characters — human and animal — that fail to exert much of a hold, reclaiming the story only toward the end. Up to then, the filmmaker's overstuffed visual imagination and appetite for sinister gloom all but trample the enchantment of a tale that, at heart, is simple and whimsical. The central failure to recognize those virtues lies also in Ehren Kruger's cluttered screenplay." James Berardinelli from Reelviews called Dumbo "a perfectly adequate family film" and gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. The Guardian s Peter Bradshaw gave the film one out of five stars, lamenting that "Tim Burton's new Dumbo lands in the multiplex big top with a dull thud. It is a flightless pachyderm of a film that saddles itself with 21st-century shame at the idea of circus animals, overcomplicating the first movie, losing the directness, abandoning the lethal pathos, mislaying the songs and finally getting marooned in some sort of steampunk Jurassic Park, jam-packed with retro-futurist boredom." References External links * * * Category:2019 3D films Category:2010s adventure films Category:2010s fantasy films Category:American films Category:American 3D films Category:American adventure films Category:American children's fantasy films Category:American fantasy adventure films Category:Circus films Category:Disney film remakes Category:Dumbo Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Films about elephants Category:Films based on adaptations Category:Films based on children's books Category:Films based on multiple works Category:Films directed by Tim Burton Category:Film scores by Danny Elfman Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios Category:Films shot in England Category:Films set in 1919 Category:Films set in Florida Category:Films set in Missouri Category:Films set in New York City Category:Films set on trains Category:Films using computer-generated imagery Category:Films with screenplays by Ehren Kruger Category:Walt Disney Pictures films Category:Film scores by Chris Bacon (composer) Category:Films produced by Tim Burton